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Neglect of agricul

The people better bred, for having had the complaifance to tear a very poor. white handkerchief into a good number of flips, and divided it among them to fatisfy their avidity, they became fo greedy and troublesome for more, and gathered in such tumultuous troops about him, that, to avoid their fury at his refufal, he was forced to barricade himself, and his four Portuguese companions, in his hut, and to fire a gun over their heads; the noise of which laid them all flat on the ground, and foon frighted them into submisfion. They are nevertheless fo proud, with their exceffive poverty, that they neither till, fow, or plant, or gather any thing that the land produces, except, perhaps, when they fnatch a bolus of chewed grafs out of a cow's mouth to put it into their own, that being reckoned a moft delicious morfel among them; fo that all their spacious plains and vales only ferve to afford their cattle fuch food as the earth naturally brings forth. They look after their cattle, drink their milk, and eat their flesh raw, which is all their food, except, perhaps, human flesh, which we z Lobo, ubi fupra, Voy. ii. p. 22. & feq.

ture.

the place where he received me
being a hut, thatched with
ftraw, but fomewhat larger
than those of his fubjects. His
manner of giving audience to
ftrangers is fomewhat fingular:
he appears feated in the midft,
with all his courtiers about him,
fitting against the wall, each
with a goad, or staff, or club,
in his hand, longer or fhorter
according to his rank; the
longer, the more dignified. As
foon as the stranger enters the
place, all thofe courtiers fall
foul upon him, and baftonade
him, till he has regained the
door, and got hold of it with
his hand; upon which they
return to their feats, and he is
complimented, as if nothing
like it had been done to him.

I my felf, fays he, did not fare one jot better, notwithstanding the peaceable and friendly offices that had paffed between us; and when I afked the meaning of fo ftrange a ceremony, I was anfwered, that it was to make thofe that came among them fenfible of the valour and bravery of their nation above all others, and how reasonable it is for them to behave fubmiffively to it. And well might they think fo, feeing they hardly know any other people, except those indigent wretches that crofs over mountains and forests to traffic with them; yet, adds our author, they have fuch high esteem for the Portuguese, that they style them the gods of the fea (1).

(1) Lobo, ap. Le Grand Relat, de l'Abyffinie, Voy. ii. p. 23, &

feq.

arc

a

are told they likewife eat ; fo eafily are their hunger and

their ene

thirst fatisfied. They have not the use of bread, nor of Mean food. any fuccedaneum to it; but when they find any in the Their reaAbyffinian countries, where they make their frequent in- fons for it. roads, they feize greedily on it, and eat it with a good appetite; yet will not this induce them to fow any corn in their own lands: and this reason they give for it, that the Ethiopians, and other enemies, may not be tempted to invade them, and reap the benefit of their labour; for it is their conftant cuftom, whenever they find any neighbouring states pouring in their troops among them, to retire into fome remote parts, with all their families and Strange cattle, which laft is all their wealth; fo that the enemy, way of refinding nothing to fubfift upon, during the march, and pelling the long barren tracts they have ftill to go over, to come at them, they must of course be obliged either to go back, or perish; for neither the Abyffines, nor any of their neighbours, have the forecaft to make a fufficient provifion of food and drink for fuch long journies; and, finding two fuch powerful enemies as hunger and thirst, they are more effectually repulfed than they could have been by all their weapons and brutifh bravery. By this ftrange policy they are able to fecure their conquefts against an enemy, in all other refpects fuperior to them; and to defend themselves, without ftriking a blow, whilst their poverty and the barrennefs of their country is as effectual a barrier against all invasions".

mies.

The Gallas are not, however, without fome good qua- Good qualities; they are honest, and true to their promise, and are lities. never known to violate at oath. Their ceremony of taking it, is, by bringing a sheep to the place, and anointing it with butter; after which ceremony, the perfons, or if it be taken in the name of a tribe or family, the heads of it, lay their hands upon its head, and folemnly proteft, Faithfulthat they will religioufly obferve every part of their en- ness. gagement. The explanation they give of this ceremony is, that the fheep is, in fome fenfe, the mother of all that fwear, and the butter is an emblem of the mutual love of the mother and her children; and, confequently, that a man ought never to violate an oath which he hath taken upon the head of his mother. They have given, likewife, fome farther marks of their fidelity and good difpofition, both at the emperor's court, and in the fundry noblemen's

a Lobo, ubi fupra, p. 19.
Lobo, ubi fupra, Voy. ii. p, 24.

b Tellez, Ludolph, Lobo, & al.

houses,

Regard for

their oaths,

Zeal of Come of their converts.

Natural hiftory of Aby finia.

houfes, where they had been bred up, and where they proved fo tractable and docile, as not to be exceeded even by the Abyffinians themselves. But that which crowns all, if not exaggerated, is, that some of them, who had been converted to Chriftianity by the Romish miffionaries, proved as conftant in maintaining it under tortures, as they had been ready to embrace it in words a.

SECT. III.

The Climate, Soil, Product, Animals wild and tame,
Vegetables, Infects, &c. of Abyffinia.

THIS

HIS was one of the countries which the ancients deemed uninhabitable, on account of its being within the torrid zone, where they imagined, not only men and animals, but even trees and vegetables, muft be all burned up. This mistake hath been fince fufficiently exploded; and this large empire is so irrefragable a proof of the contrary, that though it lies between the 8th and 17th deg. of latitude, yet are we now well affured, that it is so far from being liable to any exceffive heat, that it is, for the moft part, as cool and temperate as Portugal and Spain; infomuch that, in many provinces, they are quite free from thofe fcorching heats, which rage among more northern nations in the height of fummer; or, to fpeak ftill more clearly, are more afraid of the cold than heat. This Difference must, however, be understood only of fome of their vaft of winters. mountains and high lands; for, as to the vallies and fandy

Climate.

Their four feafons.

deferts, they cannot but be exceffively, and fome times intolerably, hot. Another difference of climate. we must likewife fuppofe of course, in a country of fuch vaft extent, nor only as they draw nearer to the line,, but as they lie nearer to or farther from the Red Sea. However, in the main, the country is very pleasant all the reft of the year, the people healthy and sprightly, enjoying a clear and ferene iky, and they commonly live to a good old age. They divide the year into four seasons: the spring, called by them matzau, on account of its following the winter; it begins with them on the 25th of September. The fummer, named by them fzadai, begins in December, and is that in which they gather their harvest. The third season begins in March, and is called by them ha

d Tellez, Almeyda, Alvarez, p. 60, & al.. e Tellez, Almeyda, Lobo, Ludolph, Poncet, & al.

gain,

1

gain, but though it immediately follows the fummer, yet can it not be properly called autumn, because it is not that in which they gather their fruits, as here in Europe, but rather the very hotteft feafon of the whole year. And, therefore, with respect to Abyffinia, the year might be more truly divided into three feafons; namely, fpring, which begins September 25; fummer, which may be divided into two parts, the milder of which, named fzadai, begins on the 25th of December; and the hotteft, on the 25th of March; and then follows the winter, which begins on the 25th of June. This laft chiefly confifts in violent rains, which lay all the low lands under water.

As the climates and feafons, differ in this empire, fo do Winds. the winds; fome, especially on their lofty mountains and high lands, being almost conftantly refreshing and delighful; others, on the low lands, where the air is lefs agitated, are hot, troublesome, and unhealthy. At fome Whirlfeasons they are violent and ftormy, particularly one, which winds. they call fendo, which, in the language of Amhara, fignifies a ferpent. It blows with fuch fierceness and violence, as to pull up trees by the roots, overturn houses and every thing, even fometimes the rocks, which it meets in its way, and even whirls them up into the air. Gregory, the Abyffinian abbot, affirms, that these whirlwinds may been feen with the naked eye, the groffer part of them close to the earth, and the reft winding itself upwards like a ferpent f; but whether vifible or not, it is certain they are felt in many, if not most other countries, and in as impetuous a manner, though not perhaps fo frequently as here.

The great difference of cold and heat between the high Thunder and low lands, is likewise attended with terrible thunders and lightand lightnings, which very often prove hurtful to men and ning. beafts, and do great harm to the product of the earth; for these are commonly attended with fuch prodigious rains, as feem to threaten a fecond deluge; at fuch times, they do not come down in drops, but in torrents, that seem to fill the lower atmosphere: by these, the rivers fwell with Excessive fuch prodigious swiftness, and to fuch a degree, that they rains. quickly lay all the low lands under water, and run with fuch violence, that they feem as if they would fweep all before them. Neither are they like our hafty showers, fhort and fierce, but laft the best part of three whole months, and make what is called the winter-quarter a

f Ap. Ludolph, ubi fupra, lib. i. cap. 5. feq. 43.

mong

Their inconveniency and danger.

Unwholjomeness.

Bad difeafes caufed by the tag Aagnated wa

ters.

mong them; during all which time, there is not a day in which it doth not rain, more or lefs, in the fame plentiful manner: but commonly the mornings are clear, and enjoy such a fine funshine, that where the waters have a free current, the ground appears as if it had received no rain at all; but foon after mid-day, the clouds gather thick and faft; and an hour or two after, a violent ftorm arifes, mixed with dreadful lightning and thunder, so that the whole atmosphere feems to be turned into fire and water: thofe that cannot get under fome good fhelter, run great hazard of their lives from both; for the lightning is no lefs hurtful and deftructive to men, cattle, trees, and houfes. This ftorm commonly lafts three or four hours, more or less; after which the fun shines again on the fudden as clear as ever; and thus it continues to be during the whole winter feafon: for which reafon, they feldom build their houfes in low, but always on high ground. There is another great inconvenience attending these violent and tedious rains, viz. that they make most of their rivers impaffable, there being neither bridges nor boats among them to help them over, fo that paffengers are often confined fome confiderable time before they can purfue their journey: they have, indeed, in fome provinces, a way to convey themselves over by the help of a rope, which they throw across the river, and fasten to fome tree, or poft, on both fides. Some will venture over upon fome rafters, or floats, faftened together, an expedient which is not ufed without great danger 2.

But the greateft inconveniency which attends thefe great and continued rains, is, that they infect the air with a dangerous malignancy; for, falling upon a ground that hath lain dry and quite parched up near nine whole months, they naturally raife fuch vaft quantities of unwholesome vapours, as feldom fail of producing fome grievous diftempers, from which, even those that keep themselves altogether at home, are feldom exempted 1. Neither doth the danger end here; for the waters that are left in divers part, begin, with the return of the fpring, to corrupt and ftink, and cause a fresh infection in the air, and fresh diftempers in men and beafts; fo that if it were not for these violent ftormy winds, which begin to blow early in the fpring, the air would be quickly ftagnated, and a peftilential disease defolate the whole empire.

Tellez, Ludolph, Lobo, & al. ubi fupra, h Lobo, ubi fupra, p. 8o. Poncet, & al.

The

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